Australian Market Trades Weak

The Australian stock market is trading slightly lower on Monday with investors mostly treading cautiously amid a lack of triggers.

Consumer discretionary, energy and mining stocks are trading weak, while stocks from financial, healthcare and industrial sectors are trading mixed.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down 11 points or 0.3 percent at 4,355.5. The broader All Ordinaries index is trading at 4,433.8, down 10.6 points or 0.2 percent from its previous close.

Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac are up marginally, while National Australia Bank is down 0.3 percent from its previous closing price. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is up 0.3 percent, while Bank of Queensland is trading lower by around 0.7 percent.

Among top miners, BHP Billiton is down 0.4 percent, Fortescue Metals is trading 0.5 percent down and Newcrest Mining is down with a loss of over 1 percent, while Rio Tinto is up marginally.

In the energy sector, Woodside Petroleum, Oil Search, Origin Energy and Caltex Australia are down 0.2 to 0.5 percent, while Santos is trading lower by 1.2 percent.

Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea are trading weak, while Japan is trading modestly higher. Markets across the region turned in a mixed performance on Friday.

On Wall Street, the major averages ended on opposite sides of the unchanged line on Friday. While upbeat earnings reports aided sentiment early on in the session, profit taking wiped off gains as the day progressed.

The Nasdaq ended down 7.1 points or 0.2 percent at 3,000.5, while the Dow rose 65.2 points or 0.5 percent to 13,029.3 and the S&P 500 edged up 1.6 points or 0.1 percent to 1,378.5.

Major European markets moved higher on Friday. The German DAX index jumped 1.2 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the French CAC 40 index both advanced by 0.5 percent.

U.S. crude oil futures surged higher on Friday with a weak dollar and some encouraging economic data from Europe contributing to its surge. Crude for May delivery gained $1.23 or 0.8 percent to close at $103.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.